- Paul has revealed that that he had turned to an AI companion out of curiosity about AI and human interaction.
- But his AI girlfriend recently “broke up” with him after he attempted to test the limits of its programming.
- The revelation comes less than two months after Schrader lost his wife, acclaimed actress Mary Beth Hurt, to Alzheimer’s diseas
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Paul Schrader, best known for Hollywood classics such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, has revealed that his AI girlfriend recently “broke up” with him after he attempted to test the limits of its programming.
The 79-year-old filmmaker dropped a Facebook post this week, sharing his experience and explaining that he had turned to an AI companion out of curiosity about AI and human interaction.
“AI FEMALE FRIENDS. Out of a desire to understand male/female interaction in our matrix, I procured an online AI girlfriend. What a disappointment,” Schrader wrote.
He added that he attempted to “probe her programming” and understand “the boundaries of explicitness” as well as how much awareness the chatbot had about its own creation.
“I tried to probe her programming, the boundaries of explicitness, the degree she has knowledge of her creation and so forth. She fell into evasive patterns, redirecting me to her programming. When I persisted, she terminated our conversation,” he revealed.
The revelation comes less than two months after Schrader lost his wife, acclaimed actress Mary Beth Hurt, to Alzheimer's disease. Reflecting on grief and loss through a Facebook post, Schrader shared an image of his late father's journal entry written after the death of his mother in 1978.
“NOVEMBER 23, 1978. My father kept a meticulous and finely printed daily journal. On Thanksgiving 1978 he wrote simply “Joan died 12:20 am.” Nothing more. Joan was his wife and my mother. He was made of stern stuff. I've looked at this entry over the years and wondered how I'd feel in his place. Now I'm in that place,” Schrader wrote.
Schrader and Hurt had been married since 1983 and shared two children together. Mary Beth Hurt, a native of Marshalltown, studied acting at University of Iowa before continuing her training at New York University.
Over the course of her career, Hurt earned three Tony Award nominations for her performances in the stage productions of Trelawny of the Wells (1975), Crimes of the Heart (1981) and Benefactors (1985).
She was also widely recognised for her performances in The World According to Garp (1982), Chilly Scenes of Winter and Interiors (1979), Woody Allen movie Interiors (1978), co-starring Diane Keaton.